Memorabilia
by SmurfLuvsCookies
Summary: A story never really begins with the first installment of the adventure. It begins with the memories and hurts of the characters, and the steps they tread to begin the story we know. #4: BEDBENDING - Korra has trouble adjusting to the monks' strict standard of cleanliness on Air Temple Island.
1. Where Death is Just a Word

_**Author's Note: **My first LoK story that I kind of did on a whim. There will be more chapters. These are mostly introspective or scene-centric pieces, and most of the characters will probably have a chapter dedicated to them. Hope you enjoy! :)_

_I don't own anything affiliated with the Legend of Korra._

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**Where Death is Just a Word  
by: SmurfLuvsCookies**

Death was just a word.

To two content little boys, it didn't _really _mean anything. It was a word that meant the end of life, the passing of a soul into the spirit world, the continuation of a cycle. They had witnessed death in small increments, in the drowning of a spider or the slaughter of a pig, but it had never occurred to them how devastating death could be.

They did not understand death until it ripped their family apart, claiming their parents in an explosive, fiery way. Eventually the boys came to the conclusion that they would never again hear their parents laughter or feel their embrace. They would never again be scolded or praised. And they realized that no one cared to take care of them anymore, not in this new harsh world where they were lucky if a grown-up threw a coin at them on the street.

It was then that death became more than a word.

Death was something much too real. It was a tangible _thing_, always imminent, oppressing and cold. They became familiar with death in the sour knots that were their stomachs, in the stiffness of their fingers, and in the dryness of their lips. But most of all, they felt death in the absence of their parents. _That _was death, and it was all around them.

A crimson scarf and a young fire ferret were the only solaces in the boys' lives. That, and each other. It was often that they fought, but when big green eyes shed tears and a muffled apology came from behind the crimson scarf, brotherhood was restored.

The eldest boy took on jobs that were too big for him, like the scarf he adorned. He did brutal labor, he stole from the innocent, and when fire filled his veins he fought for his place in a hierarchy of criminals. He was only a little boy, but his eyes were filled with the determination of a warrior.

The youngest boy did his best to ensure his brother was happy, or as happy as he could be. He bought food and prepared it, he cleaned their empty dwelling, he made jokes and ensured that his brother laughed every day. But when he heard him crying in the middle of the night, snuggled close to the crimson scarf, he did not know what to do.

The eldest shielded his brother from the society of felons he conspired with. Together they only did labor. He went off on his own when more danger was involved. His brother was pure, and he wanted him to stay that way.

When rock bent under the youngest boy's will, there was no stopping the attention both of them gained. In the cover of night they fled. When old pals discovered them, the eldest swore them to secrecy. _Bolin will not join_, he told himself. _Bolin will not live that life_.

The boys worked honestly for the rest of their years. They were poor, but happy, and free from the fear of arrest. Death still gnawed at their stomachs from time to time, and it was still as imminent as ever in the echoes of their rooms. They did their best to live the death away.

It was their dream to find a safe place again, a place where death could resume being just another word in their vocabulary.

But they knew they never would.


	2. Pride

_**Author's Note:** Yeah, these aren't in any particular order or have any correlation at all. They're just whatever comes to mind. Sorry if it's a bit confusing._

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**Pride  
****by: SmurfLuvsCookies**

It was always so strange to see him sitting remotely across the table from her, napkin in his lap, face impassive, posture perfect, with unparalleled etiquette. Katara did her best not to compare her three children, but she could not help but notice that Tenzin had surpassed his two older siblings in maturity. While they yelled and slouched and shot food across the table, he sat with impeccable decorum until he ate every morsel on his plate and primly asked for permission to leave. Katara always granted it to him with a gentle reminder to meditate; not that he ever needed reminding. Tenzin was quite capable in his pursuit of airbending just like everything else he did.

His seriousness amused her to no end, though Aang pointed out on multiple occasions that their son was not trying to be humorous. Katara knew that Tenzin's solemn demeanor was completely natural and unintentional, but to watch a six-year-old boy react in a composed, mature manner when his elder sister waterbent juice into his face was hilarious. It was often that Katara had to stifle giggles, an inevitable sign of her own immaturity, whenever Tenzin handled confrontation with his siblings and playmates.

She had no idea where he got it from. Certainly not from her or Aang. Perhaps growing up under the influence of his rambunctious siblings had turned him into the somber child he was. Whatever the cause, Katara found it an anomaly and, like any good mother, she had to exploit for her own entertainment.

Thus she doted on Tenzin whenever she could, embarrassing him but also worming her way into that special place in a child's heart that is reserved for their mother. Tenzin was attached to Katara more than he would like to admit. He never appreciated his peers bringing her into conversation. Katara observed that his little bald head turned the same shade of scarlet as an adult than it did when he was a child.

There was a small part of Katara that was disappointed. Tenzin was her youngest, her baby. All of her children were fiercely independent, but sometimes Tenzin seemed to be the most likely to leave her. He should have been the one glued to her side.

On that fine spring day when Aang declared him an official airbending master, though, it was Katara who Tenzin first told. He was beaming, grinning even, like a schoolboy given an award. He waited eagerly for her verdict upon the matter, awaiting her approval and praise.

"I'm so proud of you," she said to him. Then she embraced him, and he reverted back to his stiff, serious Tenzin.

Katara was crying. For there was more than one thing to be proud of that day.


	3. Crushing

_**Author's Note:** I think it's been unanimously decided by the fandom population that Jinora has a crush on Bolin. Unfortunately, I don't think it will be examined in the actual series. :(_

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**Crushing  
by: SmurfLuvsCookies**

Jinora peaked around the corner with the book clutched to her chest. She hoped that her shadow was adequately obscured behind the screen that separated her from the party of four she was spying on.

Unlike her younger sister, Jinora had never been interested in the petty affairs of adults. For her they lacked that vague incomprehension that usually made them so mysterious to children. Jinora may not have understood everything, but what she did understand was dull and thoroughly uninteresting. She'd much rather read.

But today, she closed her book.

It was common knowledge here at Air Temple Island that the resident Avatar was enamored with the broodingly handsome firebender who was currently dating the heiress of the prosperous but traitorous entrepreneur. Jinora acknowledged that Mako was dreamy in a cynical kind of way, but he had nothing on his eager, adorable, green-eyed earthbender of a younger brother. Bolin.

How could Korra let him slip through her fingers? Jinora was Korra's reluctant personal girl-time confidant, listening with attentive ears but not judging or relaying the news (unlike Ikki, who eavesdropped on these therapeutic sessions and apparently gossipped nonstop to everyone). Then, before she had met the elusive Bolin, Jinora empathized with Korra's predicament: like she said, Mako was attractive. She'd always imagined Bolin to be much less so, the nice guy that no girl cared for simply because he was overshadowed by his devilishly handsome brother and was too naive to realize it. Of course Jinora liked to think that Korra would never be that shallow, but she supposed that the inner-workings of a teenage girl's mind were obscure in itself.

However, now that she saw Bolin with her own eyes, witnessed his bright childish smile and whimsical humor, his booming laugh, his brown hair that always seemed artfully designed so that Jinora wanted to brush that single drooping curl from his forehead; now that she saw what Korra was giving up for the moody, dreadfully serious Mako, she could not follow the Avatar's logic at all. What did she see in Mako that made him better? Korra liked him well before Asami Sato waltzed into the picture, so it couldn't have been purely territorial jealousy. Jinora didn't understand, thus it was the object of her fascination.

She watched them, silently, swiftly, sometimes out of the corner of her eye, over the edge of her book, or behind screens like she was now. She searched for a flaw, an imperfection that made Bolin unsuitable. Eventually she found herself looking for an indication instead, a sign that he still had feelings for Korra or that she had developed feelings for him. Frequently she swallowed down a wave of envy when she noticed him giving the Avatar a gentle smile, or a reassuring embrace, or something of the sort. But she was selfishly relieved that Korra seemed determined to keep the relationship platonic, and Bolin began to follow suit.

The foursome were just relaxing that afternoon, drinking tea and munching on snacks. From her vantage point Jinora could see the lazy tangle of legs that belonged to Asami and Mako, feet that nudged each other and rubbed against ankles. Korra sat on Mako's other side, elbows on the table and unconsciously leaning forward like a sunflower as the brothers reminisced. Bolin tipped back on two legs of a chair, arms thrown behind his head in a haphazard way, feet thrown onto the table. His fire ferret, Pabu, was draped around his neck like a furry shawl.

The group collapsed into fits of laughter as the brothers finished their story, and Jinora quietly smiled to herself when she picked Bolin's bass guffaws out of the din. The sound spread through her like warm honey. She wondered if this is what people meant when they said they were "melting."

Mako may have been the firebender, but Bolin certainly gave off a heat of his own.

"Look who's spying now." Jinora jumped violently as her siblings popped up behind her, grinning with glee at the prospect of catching their righteous elder sister in a mischievous act. Ikki smirked and peered over Jinora's shoulder at the sight behind the screen. Meelo climbed onto her back and scowled, his little face becoming an angry crimson.

"That's my beautiful woman!" he hissed in a loud whisper. If Jinora hadn't grabbed the back of his robe at last minute, he probably would have burst in demanding a duel with Mako.

Ikki sighed wistfully, retreating behind the screen. "Asami's so lucky. If I was four feet taller..."

"Not you too!" Jinora couldn't resist groaning reproachfully, sneering at Mako's shape behind the screen. "I don't understand what you and Asami and Korra see in that guy!"

"It takes a true woman to love a man like that," said Ikki with superior airs as she drew herself up to her full height.

Jinora raised an eyebrow. "I'm more of a woman than you are, Ikki."

"How so?"

"I'm older than you."

"But that doesn't make you more of a _woman_," Ikki huffed. "It just makes you older. Besides, you're obviously the weirdo here if three of us women all agree that Mako is the hottest and you're over here drooling over Bolin."

"I - I was not _drooling_ - !"

"Were so!" Ikki grinned. "Maybe I should tell him."

Jinora was mortified. "No! You won't say anything!"

"Maybe I won't," Ikki sniffed, rubbing her fingers together suggestively. "That is, with a little _persuasion_..."

"Are you seriously asking me to bribe you?" Jinora scoffed. "I bet you can't even _spell_ persuasion!"

"I don't need to know how to spell it in order to put it to good use. Meelo doesn't know how to spell his name. Isn't that right, Meelo?"

The boy in question looked affronted. "I do too! It's M - e - e - um...wait, wait, I got it - !" He was silenced as an ominous shadow passed over the three of them and they stood paralyzed with anticipation at being accused of eavesdropping by the anonymous malefactor. Slowly they each raised their heads and met the bright black eyes of Pabu the fire ferret, who leapt off of his stoop in order to lick Meelo's somehow sticky face. The furry obstruction gone, they met the curious eyes of their discoverer.

Jinora felt her heart jump into her thoat.

"What're you guys doing out here?" Bolin inquired innocently, oblivious to the suspicious location of the three children. He grinned at Meelo and picked up the hysterically laughing child, Pabu scampering up the length of his arm to maintain the supply of mystery substance he was procuring from Meelo's face. "Are you guys hungry? Want some tea and cookies? We got plenty left."

Ikki grinned. "What kind of cookies?"

"Chocolate chip and macadamia nut," Bolin answered automatically.

"What kind of tea?"

"Oolong."

"Do we have to use table manners?"

"I'm not."

"Can I feed Pabu some cookies?"

"He's only had four."

"Can I climb on Mako's shoulders?"

"Go for it."

"Can Meelo sit in Asami's lap?"

"I'm sure she wouldn't mind."

"Yeah!" Meelo shrieked, bouncing off of Bolin's head and shooting himself into the room using his peculiar airbending style; he left Bolin thoroughly dazed and disheveled, and Pabu dropped to the floor like a rock. Ikki laughed shrilly and, before joining her brother to wreak havoc on the unsuspecting couple, winked at Jinora.

Bolin picked Jinora's abandoned book off the floor as Pabu resurrected. He dusted off the cover and held it out to her. "I'm guessing this is yours. You're always reading something, aren't you?"

Jinora silently nodded, unable to form a coherent thought.

"What kind of stuff do you like to read?" Bolin peered at the cover, tilting his head in order to decipher the title. His face lit up in a way that made her want to faint. "Hey, I read this before! I like this one! I won't spoil it for you though, since you're only about half way through." He handed it out to her again, clearly intending for her to accept it this time.

Jinora reached out a shaky hand and took the book. She thought she would die of pure elation and embarrassment when their fingers brushed. Bolin seemed decidedly unaffected; he grinned at her and made a wide sweeping gesture to the room from which he'd just emerged, and from which there was now sounds of mass destruction eminating. "C'mon and eat! That is," he ammended, seeing the wreckage that Ikki and Meelo had caused within, "if there's any left."

But Jinora was already dashing down the hallway, clutching the book to her thumping heart, her fair face a brilliant shade of scarlet. Bolin blinked, wondering if he'd said anything to offend the shy girl, just as a saucer came flying his way and he had to nimbly dodge it.


	4. Bedbending

_**Author's Note:** Happy Fourth of July for all you people who care! :D I'm on a Jinora binge right now._

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**Bedbending  
by: SmurfLuvsCookies**

The air temple was always spotless. The monks that lived on the island in the middle of bustling, slightly smoggy Republic City were fastidiously neat, oblivious to the relaxed standards of contemporary cleanliness.

Although the air temple had reached maximum capacity since Amon's systematic and ruthless attacks besieged the city and left many of the current Avatar's friends without homes, Tenzin and the other air temple monks insisted that the facility remain tidy.

The pro-bending brothers had no problem with this decree, for they already practiced a monk-like perspective when it came to household chores. Raising each other had ingrained in them a certain discipline that was rare to find in young males such as themselves. The strict landlord at their previous place of residence was also a contributing factor. And while the monks were leery of the squeaky little fire ferret that accompanied them, their good graces were restored when the animal proved its worth catching frograts that had begun to infest the island.

The daughter of the rich Equalist entrepreneur struggled with the unfamiliar chores, but she was a dedicated worker and a quick learner. And anyway, she hadn't brought much with her in the way of possessions.

It was the guest who had been living at Air Temple Island the longest who was having the most difficult time upholding the rigid standard of neatness. Avatar Korra was notoriously rebellious, but even she had a limit to the amount of nagging she could endure from various parties concerning her unmade bed.

That bright morning she glared down at the mangled mass of bed wear flattened upon the mattress like an unseemly loaf of bread. Her stomach growled. Tenzin had denied her breakfast until she cleaned her room, and this was the last article on the extensive list.

_If only they invented bedbending_, Korra thought bitterly, narrowing her eyes at the sheets as though she could move them with only her mental faculties - which were admittedly feeble. But, like the airbending she was exhibiting only slight improvement in, she doubted that she would be blessed with that talent even if it existed.

Korra tackled the sheets with ferocity that was surely to be admired if anyone were there to behold it. Unfortunately, everyone was enjoying their breakfast.

After several minutes of adjusting, swearing, shouting, grinding teeth, punching linens, and desperate attempts at bedbending, Korra collapsed upon her bed with a sigh of discontent. She glanced at the intricate valley of folds around her and wondered if the bed was worse off now than it was before.

Domesticality was certainly not her area of expertise.

The window rattled as Naga stuck her nose inside the room and sniffed imperceivably. Korra smiled at her companion and jumped up from the bed, rubbing the polar bear dog's nose. "Naga," she began with a grin, "do you want to help me with something?"

Ten minutes later, Jinora walked in on Korra perilously balancing on one foot with the other braced against the bed as she tugged at the blanket clamped between Naga's jaws. "I - told - you!" she exclaimed between pulls. "This - is not - tug-of-war!"

Jinora raised her eyebrows as Naga spotted her in the threshold of the room and released the blanket, sending Korra flying through the air. She landed with a bodily thump on the floor, blinking in astonishment as the blanket cascaded atop her splayed figure.

"Were you really trying to get your polar bear dog to make your bed?" Jinora inquired with more than a little amusement, giggling as she helped the Avatar off of the ground.

"Maybe," Korra muttered crossly. She turned her pleading blue eyes to Jinora. "Help me, please? I'm so hungry."

"Father said you'll have to wait until lunch anyway," Jinora explained sympathetically. "It's much to late now for breakfast. But I'll help you out of pity."

"I'll take it," Korra remarked, smiling with delight. "Beggars can't be choosers."

"Watch this." Jinora spread her feet apart and held her hands loosely at her sides. She closed her eyes and swayed back and forth as she raised them slowly in the air, fingers together, palms down. Then, after a series of swift, deft movements, a current of air circulated through the room and swept the blankets onto the bed in a flawlessly smooth arrangement.

Korra gaped at the small girl as she smirked at the bed with approval and sauntered out of the room. "B-bed...bedbender!" she accused with a stutter, making wide, sporadic gestures toward the girl. Jinora rolled her eyes and simply reminded Korra not to be late for airbending practice.


End file.
